Holden Caulfield died yesterday

[snoopy13a]

Or at least his creator did:

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wirestory?id=9688535&page=1

[Catch]

You know, I was honestly excited when I first heard about this. Now all his work of the past 40 years might see a little daylight.

[Texas_Ben]

I read on another forum that he had completed something like 15 more manuscripts.

[JonestheSpy]

I hate to say it, but Catcher in the Rye never really clicked with me. I suppose I should read it again and see if I can figure out why it was so important to so many folks...

[A Rainy Knight]

My mom told me about this while I was in the middle of writing a paper on Catcher in the Rye. That's the strongest irony I've felt in a while.

[SurlySeraph]

I've never much liked Salinger, but it'll be interesting to finally find out what he was doing for the past 40 years.

[Cyrion]

Catcher in the Rye never quite clicked with me either, though it wasn't bad. A book with, to me, a similar feel but better is Sarah Gruen's Water for Elephants.

[pita]

I absolutely loathed The Catcher in the Rye, and J.D. Salinger was a pedophile.

[Zeta Kai]

I've never much liked Salinger, but it'll be interesting to finally find out what he was doing for the past 40 years.

Anyone who likes Salinger is a phoney who'll never do anyone any good. (http://www.theonion.com/content/news/bunch_of_phonies_mourn_j_d)

[SolkaTruesilver]

Catcher in the Rye never quite clicked with me either, though it wasn't bad. A book with, to me, a similar feel but better is Sarah Gruen's Water for Elephants.

they forced me to read it in High School too, even if I am not related to american culture (enriched english class). It was an unpleasant and boring experience. I never understood what's so great about this book which went nowhere.

[WalkingTarget]

they forced me to read it in High School too, even if I am not related to american culture (enriched english class). It was an unpleasant and boring experience. I never understood what's so great about this book which went nowhere.

A lot of people connect with Holden given the whole teenage angst thing. The plot going somewhere isn't the point, I think. It's more about the characterization of Holden and the nature of identity (as defined by oneself and by one's connection to others).

The book is also notable in a historical context given its liberal use of profanity and frank sexuality.

I think a problem that a lot of books like this have is that they've been built up too much in popular consciousness. It's tough to read them without thinking "Why is this such a 'good' book?" the whole time and that distracts the reader. I only read it a few years ago and I was aware of this so I purposefully tried to avert that mentality. I can see why it's a big deal for some people, but it didn't really register for me - largely due to Holden's situation/thoughts/actions in no way matching my own life. Then again, I've got this whole unsystematic stoicism thing going which kind of precludes the angst from coming into play.

[SolkaTruesilver]

AI think a problem that a lot of books like this have is that they've been built up too much in popular consciousness. It's tough to read them without thinking "Why is this such a 'good' book?" the whole time and that distracts the reader. I only read it a few years ago and I was aware of this so I purposefully tried to avert that mentality. I can see why it's a big deal for some people, but it didn't really register for me - largely due to Holden's situation/thoughts/actions in no way matching my own life. Then again, I've got this whole unsystematic stoicism thing going which kind of precludes the angst from coming into play.

Nah. I never heard of Catcher and the Rye before reading the book (french-Canadian. Cultural osmosis don't reach much into such novels). I genuinely didn't enjoyed it.

[SurlySeraph]

Anyone who likes Salinger is a phoney who'll never do anyone any good. (http://www.theonion.com/content/news/bunch_of_phonies_mourn_j_d)

I enjoyed that.


A lot of people connect with Holden given the whole teenage angst thing. The plot going somewhere isn't the point, I think. It's more about the characterization of Holden and the nature of identity (as defined by oneself and by one's connection to others).

The book is also notable in a historical context given its liberal use of profanity and frank sexuality.

This is pretty much it, yeah. Personally, I think Salinger had a pretty good writing style, but wasted it by writing dull stories with no point except "Look how sensitive and angsty this kid is! Children are more special than adults and you should be nicer to them!"

[Nerd-o-rama]

This is pretty much it, yeah. Personally, I think Salinger had a pretty good writing style, but wasted it by writing dull stories with no point except "Look how sensitive and angsty this kid is! Children are more special than adults and you should be nicer to them!"

I don't really think that was the point. Just because Catcher in the Rye is a character study in adolescence doesn't mean Holden was meant to be perfectly sympathetic or special. In fact, his banal hypocrisy is kind of a central theme, or so I thought at least. I liked Catcher in the Rye for being a thorough analysis of a completely mundane subject, made interesting by having an extremely unreliable first-person narrator.

However, I suppose I could blame the novel for all those real life loudmouthed teenagers who think their suffering is somehow special and that they should be pitied and given special treatment, but I'm pretty sure those existed before Holden Caulfield, and Holden was simply an example of one.

[SurlySeraph]

It's true that Holden is mostly unsympathetic, but Salinger's short stories are full of Wisdom McBeautifulSnowflake kids. The ones I've read, at least.

[Nerd-o-rama]

Well, I never read his short stories. Maybe this is why no one's ever recommended them to me.

Or, you know, told me about them.

[Keshay]

What's the over/under on how long until we get a Catcher in the Rye movie?

It sucks because a few years ago I could have seen Leo DiCaprio as a perfect fit for that role...

[Jorkens]

I don't really think that was the point. Just because Catcher in the Rye is a character study in adolescence doesn't mean Holden was meant to be perfectly sympathetic or special. In fact, his banal hypocrisy is kind of a central theme, or so I thought at least. I liked Catcher in the Rye for being a thorough analysis of a completely mundane subject, made interesting by having an extremely unreliable first-person narrator.
Yes, if anyone does read it again to see what's so great about it, it's utterly essential to remember that it's not about how disaffected youth are bravely sticking up to the dreadful world of hypocritical and mean spirited adults, it's about how a lot of people who think they're disaffected youth are actually fairly hypocritical themselves and don't actually have any particularly coherent criticism the world they claim to feel alienated from. Among other things.

[RabbitHoleLost]

I read the book in middle school, before I even knew the hype about it.
I remember it specifically, because I had read everything in my English teacher's library, and she pulled it out from her desk and handed it to me and told me not to tell anyone she had given it to me.
Mostly because I would have to read it in highschool, but also because it was highly regarded as inappropriate for my age.
I read it in three days, and felt that, while I hated Holden, I had learned. I didn't know what I had learned, but I knew there was something different about me.
And the book stayed with me, though I was very firm in never, ever reading the book again.
Until John Green (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqfThmVIIAc) did a part on it, and I finally understood my reluctance to look at the book again.

In anycase, Holden changed me. And, honestly, though I have no idea why, I will defend this book to the death.
Thank you, J.D. Salinger =)
Rest in Peace. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IUJNQdTxMk)

[onthetown]

I was also forced to read it... I found it dry and boring and basically torture. I sped through it in two hours just to get it over with. I found the same with Animal Farm, allusions to the real world and all. I don't understand why they keep calling these books "classics"... Matter of opinion, I guess.

It'll be fun to see if his other manuscripts are ever released.

[chiasaur11]

I read it for school. Had to compare it with another piece with similar themes.

Picked "Runaways". Essay was on how much better Brian K Vaughn's story was.

It has a psychic dinosaur!

[Gamerlord]

My aunt and cousins live near his's house, never read his book though.

[DraPrime]

This makes me sad. I really liked Catcher In The Rye. It was an interesting look into the mind of a kid who was totally and absolutely screwed up. I know find it to be very dry, and that they end up hating Holden, but I actually found Holden sympathetic. There's something unbelievably sad about how utterly aimless his life is, and I do genuinely feel sorry for him. It's hard to not like someone you feel so sorry for.

So yeah, requiescat in pace JD Salinger.

[Raistlin1040]

When I first read Catcher in the Rye, I hated it. I still don't like it, and even if I learn to like it, I could never love it. I don't think I could ever get over what I consider to be an integral part of John Lennon's death. Still, Salinger was a genius as a writer, and I will mourn his passing, if only for the doors he opened for writers everywhere. A salute for Mr. Salinger.

[Zeta Kai]

When I first read Catcher in the Rye, I hated it. I still don't like it, and even if I learn to like it, I could never love it. I don't think I could ever get over what I consider to be an integral part of John Lennon's death. Still, Salinger was a genius as a writer, and I will mourn his passing, if only for the doors he opened for writers everywhere. A salute for Mr. Salinger.

I think it would be far more appropriate to blame Mark David Chapman's diseased mind than a book that he fixated on. What you're doing is akin to blaming video games for school violence. Insanity & violence predate every form of media, so media should be judged on its own merits (or the lack thereof). Don't let some whackjob shape your opinion for you. After all, Chapman also really liked the Beatles; do you forgive the Beatles for that?

[Project_Mayhem]

I absolutely loathed The Catcher in the Rye, and J.D. Salinger was a pedophile.

That's a serious accusation there. Citation perhaps? Some record of legal conviction mayhap? 34/19 does not a paedophile make.

[Otogi]

I'm very sorry to hear that. I never really knew of him, but it's obvious he was important to you, so I hope you feel better.

[Finn Solomon]

I read it for school. Had to compare it with another piece with similar themes.

Picked "Runaways". Essay was on how much better Brian K Vaughn's story was.

It has a psychic dinosaur!

You are a genius, my friend. BKV is a much much better writer.

[Catch]

When I first read Catcher in the Rye, I hated it. I still don't like it, and even if I learn to like it, I could never love it. I don't think I could ever get over what I consider to be an integral part of John Lennon's death.

No, bullets were an integral part of Lennon's death. The Catcher in the Rye was just a focus for a disturbed young man, who obsessed over John Lennon as much as he did the novel. It could have been Candide, A Clockwork Orange or even the Bible, but the fact remains to be understood that it was not a book that killed John Lennon, nor drove his killer to do so.

Art, however inspiring or persuasive, cannot incite a person to do something that is not already in their nature. Blame the man, or if you're a forgiving person, his illness.

[pita]

That's a serious accusation there. Citation perhaps? Some record of legal conviction mayhap? 34/19 does not a paedophile make.
I understood (I haven't read the book, but my mother has, and has conversed with the author, so I believe her) that Joyce Maynard wrote a book about her relationship with JD Salinger. In it, she said that he would bring a 14 year old girl to live in his house, and kick her out when she was 18, and that it happened to her as well as others. I know that my mom originally contacted Maynard for advice because a 14 year old student of hers had a 30 year old boyfriend.
Not technically a pedophile in the whole "having sex with pre-sexual people" sense, but in the legal sense he was. I don't think he was ever arrested.

[Project_Mayhem]

I understood (I haven't read the book, but my mother has, and has conversed with the author, so I believe her) that Joyce Maynard wrote a book about her relationship with JD Salinger. In it, she said that he would bring a 14 year old girl to live in his house, and kick her out when she was 18, and that it happened to her as well as others. I know that my mom originally contacted Maynard for advice because a 14 year old student of hers had a 30 year old boyfriend.
Not technically a pedophile in the whole "having sex with pre-sexual people" sense, but in the legal sense he was. I don't think he was ever arrested.

That point appears to be contentious. There are glaring differences between Salinger's and Maynard's accounts of their relationship. Other than her book, and the fact he frequently had relationships with 18 year olds, I couldn't find any other evidence either way.

Incidentally, I was under the impression that the two began correspondence by letter when she was 18, not 14.

[Lord Seth]

I would've preferred The Catcher in the Rye if it had an actual plot. All the book has is the character of Holden Caulfield who, while interesting, can't carry an entire book just by himself. The Great Gatsby, Macbeth/Hamlet, and Citizen Kane are examples of stories where we had an interesting main character but also had an actual plot to keep the story going. Not to mention in those we also had other characters who were developed enough to like/dislike, whereas The Catcher in the Rye, again, has just Holden.

[Catch]

I understood (I haven't read the book, but my mother has, and has conversed with the author, so I believe her) that Joyce Maynard wrote a book about her relationship with JD Salinger. In it, she said that he would bring a 14 year old girl to live in his house, and kick her out when she was 18, and that it happened to her as well as others. I know that my mom originally contacted Maynard for advice because a 14 year old student of hers had a 30 year old boyfriend.
Not technically a pedophile in the whole "having sex with pre-sexual people" sense, but in the legal sense he was. I don't think he was ever arrested.

So, you're making a declarative judgement about a person you know little about, based on a contested account in a book you've never read. Rather dubious, don't you think?